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"It was the understanding of West Yorkshire Police that any involvement of our officers was solely about police officer recruitment.

"We had no prior knowledge that the speech would be broadened to other issues until it was delivered.

"Minutes before the speech, we were told that the NPAS visit and subsequent brief to a small media pool had been cancelled.

"I was therefore disappointed to see my police officers as a backdrop to the part of the speech that was not related to recruitment."

"I am proud of the resilience and professionalism of every single one of our student officers yesterday.

"With the recruitment of additional officers alongside them over the next few years, we will hopefully be in a better position to now deliver the service that the public deserve and expect."

John Apter, the National Chair of the Police Federation, said: "I am surprised that police officers were used as a backdrop for a political speech in this way.

"I am sure that on reflection all concerned will agree that this was the wrong decision and it is disappointing that the focus has been taken away from the recruitment of 20,000 officers. This is what we should be talking about. This is what is important."

Yesterday Labour Wes Streeting said: "Every single one of these officers would be better placed policing our communities, not providing a Trump-style photo op.